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Joao Araujo (Curitiba, Puerto Rico) and Taduez Poplawski (Asheville, N.C.) rallied for a pair of three-set victories to lead the Lees-McRae College men's tennis team to a come-from-behind 5-4 win over Catawba College on Friday afternoon in the first matches played at the recently refurbished Lees-McRae tennis complex.
Lees-McRae's tandem of Araujo and Poplawski kicked off doubles play with an 8-6 victory over Catawba's duo of Pierce Hoover and Michael Patch, as Carlos Pinel (Vitoria, Espírito Santo, Brazil) and Brandon Lane gave the Bobcats a 2-0 advantage with an 8-5 decision against Matthew Nicholson and Aaron Vanhorenbeck. Jack Mordey and Iago Montero Nunez defeated Hang Lak Choi (Newton, N.C.) and Garrett Lakey, 8-4, in the third flight.The afternoon's competition hit another gear in singles play, with each match going to at least a second-set tiebreak, including five three-set pairings. Nunez evened the tally at 2-2 for Catawba with a 6-1, 7-6 (7) victory over Choi in the fifth flight. Vanhorenbeck and Mordey gave the Catawba Indians a 4-2 lead with three-set wins against Lakey and Lane, respectively, before the Bobcats answered, cutting the advantage to 4-3 when Pinel held on for a 6-4, 6-7 (9), (10-8) win over Patch at No. 4 singles.The stage was then open for Araujo, who took the first set of his match against Hoover, 6-0, and after dropping the second by a tally of 6-3, claimed the third with an identical spread to even the score at 4-4 for the Bobcats. Poplawski answered the call in the second flight, taking the first and third sets by scores of 6-4 to cap the rally and give Lees-McRae a pivotal 5-4 victory.

Catawba Blanks Bobcats, 9-0

The Catawba College women's tennis team swept both singles and doubles play on Friday afternoon en route to a 9-0 victory over Lees-McRae College in the first matches played at the recently refurbished Lees-McRae tennis complex.Catawba's duo of Liz Renteria and Sloan Kessler opened doubles action with an 8-4 win over Samantha Wohlers (Windsor, Ontario, Canada) and Hilary Lutz (Shelby, N.C.), as Lauren Sledd and Maddy Henderson defeated Taylor Bost (Jefferson, Ga.) and Caroline Greene, 8-4. Andrea Bell and Caroline Graham registered an 8-1 victory against Amanda Chapman and MJ Bumgarner in the third flight to give the Catawba Indians a 3-0 lead.Renteria posted a 6-1, 6-4 win over Wohlers in the first singles flight, before Kessler clinched the team victory for Catawba by defeating Lutz at No. 2 singles. Henderson recorded a 6-3, 6-0 decision against Bost in the fourth flight, as Sledd rallied for a 0-6, 6-4 (10-8) third-set win over Greene at No. 3 singles. Myers defeated Chapman, 6-0, 6-0, while Rachel Rudisill capped the afternoon with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Bumgarner.